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'Replay' is the hypothesis that the brain 'replays' the actions of the day while we sleep.

It had traditionally been thought that the brain was a blank canvas for neurological activity in that period, because people tend to better remember facts after a good night's sleep, rather than when more tired.

Second stage: Subjects were then asked to repeat the movements, while awake but lying in a bed

While asleep: This woman was most susceptible to the test and moved her hands around in line with the task choreography while catching some shut eye

However, evidence has increasingly shown that brain activity during sleep is very similar to its activity while learning.

Oudiette's team took on that gray area, asking subjects to hit a series of coloured buttons when shown the corresponding colours on a TV monitor.

Celebration: England striker Peter Crouch is known for his 'robot' dance

They were then asked to simulate the task while lying - awake - in bed.

Further, they were videoed while asleep and the results showed in many instances that their movements during sleep mimicked their movements during the test.

And in the woman featured in the video below, recorded on March 21, the test choreography was performed accurately.

In isolation, it looks as if she is performing 'the robot' dance in her sleep.

'To our knowledge, the present findings represent the first direct and unambiguous demonstration of overt behavioral replay of a recently learned skill during human sleep,' wrote the researchers.

The findings, reported in Public Library of Science ONE, could provide 'highly valuable information about cognitive and motor processes occurring during sleep.'

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Can you dance in your sleep? French research video shows woman 'replaying' their day's activity in bed